


Like Drinking Hot Chocolate

by Lula_Landry



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, The Dead Don't Die (2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Blood and Gore, Blow Jobs, College Student Rey (Star Wars), Cunnilingus, Dark Comedy, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Falling In Love, Gallows Humor, Horror, Inspired by The Dead Don't Die (2019), Police Uniforms, Public Sex, Sexual Tension, Shower Sex, Small Towns, Strangers to Lovers, Violence, Zombies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-15 18:47:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28568727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lula_Landry/pseuds/Lula_Landry
Summary: Rey Niima is on a road trip with her best friends when everything falls apart. The tiny rural township of Centerville is meant to be a quick stopover, but instead it becomes the location for humanity’s last stand. You see, the dead are no longer dying and no one is prepared for the resulting zombie apocalypse. In the midst of the horror and chaos, Rey meets Ben Solo, a strangely self-possessed police officer who finds a baseball bat more effective than a gun in these trying times. Rey may not survive the night, but she sure as hell is about to fall in love.-A Reylo fic set in the world of Jim Jarmusch’sThe Dead Don’t Diebecause Adam Driver makes the strangest, most compelling movies.“Hell is empty and all the devils are here.” – William Shakespeare,The Tempest.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 15
Kudos: 59





	1. The Dead Don't Die

Rey Niima was so turned around her head was spinning. After all the effort she’d put into running away from her childhood, she’d now come full circle. The universe must be laughing at her. This was supposed to be the best time of her life and instead she was barricaded inside a motel bathroom in the smallest of towns, praying the world wouldn’t end. Her future had seemed very different only a few short hours ago.

Her summer began with a breakup, though fortunately not with a broken heart. Finn Jones was her first serious boyfriend and she cared for him deeply, but the spark between them was gone. They’d come to the end of their relationship with a surprising degree of maturity, sitting down and talking it through, agreeing they were better off as friends than lovers. 

Their plan to head to Yellowstone National Park for a week was suddenly on hold but then fate intervened in the form of Poe Dameron. Finn’s frat buddy was a bundle of energy whose parents had decided to fly to Europe for a long overdue second honeymoon. Finding himself at loose ends, Poe offered to be the third on their trip to prevent any awkwardness between the exes.

Rey hesitated for all of a second. She decided she was willing to endure the sight of Finn flirting with other people if it meant she’d finally be able to visit Yellowstone. It had been a dream of hers ever since she was a kid watching documentaries on her uncle’s sputtering television set. As much as she claimed to want a job in New York or some other big city, she was still a nature lover at heart.

The road trip would take them three days but that was all part of the fun. Or, it was supposed to be. Unfortunately, Poe decided Rey’s newly single status gave him the right to flirt outrageously with her. Not only was his behaviour driving Finn crazy, but Rey was ready to slap Poe upside his thick head. Finn’s best friend was the last person she’d pick to rebound with since she suspected Finn cared more about him than her. 

There were many reasons why she’d chosen to end things with Finn.

It was a relief, therefore, when they drove past a sign welcoming them to Centerville- A Nice Place To Be. According to her cellphone it was almost eight at night, but the sun shone as if it were midday. 

“Did you see that billboard?” Poe chortled in the back seat, tipsy from the six pack of beers he’d been steadily consuming for the last two hours. “Population eight hundred. I’d kill myself if I had to live in a place as provincial as this.”

Behind the wheel, Finn muttered, “I’m sure I could make it happen.”

Rey squirmed on the inside, not because of Finn’s annoyance with Poe but Poe’s judgmental attitude. After all, she’d been brought up in a town just like this. Her parents had died in a car accident after being hit by a drunk driver and she’d gone to live with her Uncle Unkar in Jakkutown. She’d been five years old at the time. 

Rey’s connection to her mom and dad consisted of a photograph with fuzzy edges that she kept in her wallet. In saddened her that Jakkutown was all she remembered; the outlying desert, scorching sun and untidy trailer park forever burned into her brain. Her bedroom had been a cubicle too small to hold anything more than a mattress and Uncle Unkar was a professional drunk, living off disability cheques after his left leg was damaged in a mining accident. 

Rey supposed she was luckier than most. Unkar wasn’t abusive, merely neglectful, and by dint of hard work she’d managed to secure herself a full scholarship to a college of her choice. Three years later and she still hadn’t returned to visit her only remaining relative in the world- not that he’d asked her to.

What did Poe know about small towns and quiet streets, the lethargy that could grip a person’s soul so they never escaped their upbringing? Nothing. He had two loving and wealthy parents whose biggest crime was overindulging their douchebag of a son.

Finn was different. The product of a single parent home, he knew what it was to struggle, better understanding the emptiness in Rey’s soul. She hoped the ache would eventually be eased by a graduate degree and a good job in a glittering city. In the meantime, Rey intended to soak in life as best she could.

“Could we check out the price of a motel for tonight?” she asked. “It’ll probably be our last sleep in a real bed for a week.”

“Trying to get me alone with a mattress, Niima?” Poe sniggered.

Rey rolled her eyes at Finn who grunted irritably. 

“You know what, let’s do it,” Poe continued, not waiting for a reply. “My treat.”

Rey was never sure if Poe’s generosity was yet another way for him to brag about how amazing he was, but she was happy to take him up on the offer.

Finn parked his beat up old car next to a pump and the three of them got out to stretch their legs. While Finn began filling the tank, Rey wandered into the gas station convenience store.

“Oh, wow,” she said, looking around her in surprise. 

Instead of the usual collection of junk food, the walls were covered with comic books and other pop culture paraphernalia. Behind the counter was a pale man who looked a little older than her, his ginger hair cut badly and the beginnings of a moustache dotting his upper lip. He’d noticed her, of course- she was the only other sign of life in there- but said nothing.

“Cool shirt,” Rey said, trying to put him at ease. “Nosferatu,” she added, peering at the shadow of the vampire printed on beige cotton. 

Tall, gangly and pale nodded jerkily. “Yeah, I make them.” 

Rey blinked. His accent was a surprise. Very proper, almost British. There had to be a story there, but Poe and Finn barrelled into the store before she could ask.

Poe grabbed more beer from a little fridge and Finn chose a couple of drinks as well, wandering over and handing Rey her favourite brand of bottled grapeade. She shot him a look of thanks. It was nice when someone knew you that well, though familiarity was no reason to stay in a relationship.

“Here you go, Frodo,” Poe said, pushing a twenty across the counter.

The redhead blinked. “Did you just call me Frodo?”

Rey suppressed a groan, quickly asking a question before the insult took hold. “Is there a motel in town?” 

The gas station attendant looked at her once more. “Yeah, there is. Just down the road.”

“Is it nice?” 

“What?” the redhead blinked. 

“The motel,” Rey clarified, seeing Finn shoot Poe a look that said ‘weirdo’. 

The redhead nodded enthusiastically. “Oh yeah, it’s cool. One of those old school places.” 

Ever the attention hog, Poe pushed himself against the glass counter. “You mean old school like an old school horror movie? Like _Psycho_ with the separated bungalows?” 

Rey was becoming angry. Did he have to be so aggressive all the time? Just because Poe was dark haired, olive skinned and had those smouldering eyes most sorority bunnies fell for, didn’t mean he needed to be rude. 

“The Bates Motel in _Psycho_ was not separated into little bungalows,” the gas attendant said with unexpected bite in his tone, even lifting his fingers to place air quotes around the words ‘little bungalows’. “The motel was one long building.”

Poe looked taken aback that the sleeping dog had awoken long enough to snap its jaws. “Alright,” he muttered.

Rey smirked and Finn pursed his lips appreciatively at the burn. Poe stormed out.

“Thanks,” Rey said to the redhead, not clarifying for what. “Keep the change.”

“Oh, cool,” he mumbled. “And it’s Hux.”

“Excuse me?” she asked, already half turning to go.

“My name. Everyone calls me Hux.”

“You gotta be kidding me,” Finn said, walking out as well.

Rey flushed. There was no harm in being nice and they’d be gone by the morning anyway. “I’m Rey,” she said, waggling her drink at him in farewell.

Hux walked outside with her, staring at Finn’s car. “Pontiac LeMans, super cool ride. Very _Night of The Living Dead.”_

“Your film knowledge is impressive,” Rey said, getting into the car.

“I’m a George Romero fan. Zombies make for great stories.”

Rey would have replied except Finn revved the engine and took off. “That was rude!” she exclaimed. “He wasn’t done talking.”

“He was totally hitting on you,” Finn snapped.

“So?” Rey asked, her tone icy. 

_“So?”_ he responded.

“Yeah, so,” Poe drawled, for once doing his job and pouring oil on troubled waters, “it’s not like it matters, Finn, cause A, we’re gonna be gonzo after a good night’s sleep, and two, he’s totally not Rey’s type.”

“Is that right?” Rey replied. “And what is my type, Dameron?”

He grinned broadly, saluting her with a freshly opened can. “Dark and handsome, Rey-rey. Dark and handsome.”

She laughed despite herself.

“There it is, the Moonlight Motel,” Finn said, changing the subject. “Down the street, just like the guy told us.”

“I’m guessing there’s not much street to explore in Centerville,” Rey murmured, leaning forward to check out the structure.

The motel looked like it had half a dozen rooms to its name, the single storey building made from warm red brick and surrounded by neatly pruned flowering shrubs. It was a pretty sight.

Finn parked in an empty lot and the three of them headed for the main entrance. It was only then that Rey saw them. Three men stood out the front having a discussion. One was small and boyish, though that might have been the nervous expression on his face. Another appeared significantly older, his hair silver and his bright blue eyes deeply lined. And the last of the trio… well, he was something special. 

Her heart stuttered when she saw him. What had Poe said she liked- dark and handsome? This guy ticked both boxes. He was significantly taller than the other two, genetically blessed with broad shoulders and lean hips, his jet black hair just bordering on unruly, amber eyes penetrating behind horn rimmed glasses.

He had a face that was more interesting than handsome, but boy did she want to stare at it. Plush lips a Kardashian would pay to have, a dominant nose and a strong, tapered jawline, wide cheekbones she longed to trace with her fingers. He was pale, not like Hux who’d been sickly transparent, moonlit rather than sun bronzed, covered in a starry constellation of tiny moles.

Their eyes met as she drew closer and Rey felt a frission of desire travel up her spine, melting her synapses. She was grateful neither Poe nor Finn was looking at her right that moment.

This was why she’d broken up with Finn. She wanted to experience this feeling written about in songs and books and poems; her stomach clenching and her pulse racing and her panties growing damp. This.

“Um, why the hell are there cops in front of the motel?” Finn asked in an undertone, and Rey’s vision cleared.

The tall, dark and uniquely handsome man was wearing a khaki police uniform, as was his silver haired companion. Regardless, her desire for him galloped ahead of her brain like a spooked horse. 

Rey took a deep breath, trying to wrangle her emotions under control. Her gut was telling her she needed to be careful, that there was something going on she didn’t yet understand.

Despite her body’s rush of molten lust, she suddenly had a bad feeling.


	2. Any More Than You And I

Officer Ben Solo of the Centerville Police Department watched the girl walk toward him in a daze. Just like the rest of this extraordinary day, she didn’t seem real.

He processed her in sections. A small, slim body in a tight red t-shirt and tighter denim cutoffs. Perky breasts that didn’t need a bra since those juicy nipples were doing a damn fine job trying to poke through the cotton of her top. Slim thighs that he instantly imagined wrapped around his back. Her sneakers were scuffed, one hand clutching a glass bottle of lemonade. No, grape. Interesting.

She had an elfin face, or at least what he thought elves should look like. Delicate bones and a pretty pink mouth, big, shining eyes that were brown… no, there was a pool of green in their centre. Hazel. Her chestnut hair showed shimmering red highlights in the pouring sun.

Damnit, she was perfect. 

“Hey, you run this motel?” a guy behind her called out, making Dopheld Mitaka snap to attention.

Ben noticed her two friends with a sinking heart. Of course, one of them would be her boyfriend. It was always the way. She was too pretty to be unattached.

“You okay?” Chief Skywalker asked, frowning at him as Mitaka left to take care of his new customers.

“Sure, chief,” Ben said automatically, except the girl hadn’t veered off with her buddies. She was drawing closer.

Ben blinked as she stopped right in front of him. She was small enough that she had to tilt her chin to look him in the face.

“Hi,” she said, her voice clear and sweet. “Is everything okay? I mean, anything we should know about?”

Ben struggled to find the words to respond so Luke spoke first. “No, miss, we’re just having a chat with the motel owner. Nothin’ going on here.”

She glanced at Luke in acknowledgement before returning her gaze to Ben. 

Seriously, he needed to get it together.

“Where you from?” Ben asked abruptly, wincing on the inside at the idiocy of his question.

“Cleveland,” she said happily enough. “We’re on our way to Yellowstone.”

The two men nodded solemnly at this. The popular destination accounted for the majority of their town’s visitors. 

“Is there anywhere to eat around here?”

Well, wasn’t that the question? “There used to be,” Ben mumbled, earning himself a narrowing of the eyes from Chief Skywalker.

“I’m guessing no fast food places or strip malls?” she stated more than asked.

Luke cleared his throat. “The only diner in town is closed indefinitely.”

“Um, there’s a vending machine,” Ben suggested, nodding at a hulk of metal not ten feet away. 

The girl realised she needed change for a five dollar bill, forcing Luke and Ben to go fishing for coins. Ben felt a glow of pride when he produced the necessary quarters first.

“Thanks,” she said, giving him a smile before heading to the vending machine.

The two officers of the law watched the girl buy a couple of items wrapped in foil. She waved goodbye before disappearing into the motel in search of her buddies.

“Too bad about the diner,” Ben sighed once she was safely away.

“The less said the better,” Luke replied warningly. “Let’s not freak out the visitors.”

And freak out they would. Ben shook his head, still unable to believe the carnage that had greeted them this morning.

They were all at the station- himself, Luke and Officer Rose Tico- when the call came from a panicked Chewie. The usually sedate old man sounded petrified, insisting they meet him at the diner. Unfortunately, the dead body of Maz Kanata had just shown up, brought in by Armitage Hux who'd thought she was a speed bump when he first ran over her. Apparently, she'd been lying petrified on main street, wine bottle in hand.

The old woman with her addiction to alcohol and tanning salons looked surprisingly chipper, her fake spray tan maintaining the orange glow of wrinkled skin. She’d clearly been deceased a while since rigor mortis had set in. Poor Hux looked paler than usual, the English accent he’d picked up and refused to shake after a single trip to London even more questionable.

It said something about Maz that none of them were surprised she’d simply dropped dead.

Chief Skywalker’s reaction was to declare, “Damnit Maz, even your corpse reeks of chardonnay. Cheap chardonnay.”

“How’s she looking?” Ben asked, coming up from behind to help move the body.

“Well, she’s not getting any older,” Luke replied, earning him a disapproving shake of the head from Rose. 

Rose was still new to the job and took everything seriously.

After the phone call from Chewie, Luke jumped into their only squad car and headed to the diner. In the meantime, Ben dragged Maz’s corpse to a cot in a holding cell to await the coroner who was coming from a county over while Rose took Hux’s statement.

Ben left the station once Maz was secured. He pulled up at the diner to find Chewie and Luke in conversation. Chewie’s dark chocolate complexion had turned grey and Luke’s face looked sweaty. 

“What the hell was it? A wild animal? Several wild animals?” Chewie was asking.

“I don’t know,” the Chief said, lips compressed. “Whatever it was even smashed the coffeepots.”

Ben remembered thinking Rose would be disappointed. She made sure to start and end her day with a cup of diner coffee, calling it the world’s best.

“Chief?” Ben said, ambling up to them.

Luke gave no instructions, merely indicating the diner with his chin. 

Ben had a bad feeling as he climbed the stairs onto the white painted porch, hesitating before he pushed open glass panelled doors. The stench of death preceded the sight of dead bodies. Maz had smelled of decay as well, but what he saw in the diner told a story of horrific and unnatural violence.

Amilyn Holdo, the diner’s fastidious owner, lay sprawled in front of her normally immaculate counter, eyes wide open and mouth agape as if she’d died screaming. Her body resembled a mangled piece of meat, chunks of flesh taken out of her neck and shoulders, the attacker tearing through the fabric of her clothes. Someone or something had gouged her stomach, leaving behind a mess of entrails. There was even gore in her hair, spoiling the lavender rinse she liked to put through snow white locks.

Ben wrinkled his nose as he stepped over her body, noting the smashed glass coffee pots, black liquid pooled on a white tiled ground. A little further inside was another bloody figure. Based on proximity and a stained blonde braid, he guessed this was Amilyn’s daughter Kaydel.

All of a sudden, Ben came over faint. He grabbed his knees, gasping for air. These were people he’d known, senselessly butchered by God knows what, their deaths leaving behind an awful mess. In that position, he noticed something else. Footprints. Dragging, shuffling, muddy footprints carelessly tracking blood and flesh all over the diner floor.

Ben turned around and stumbled outside before he disgraced himself, his sharp mind reviewing all that he’d seen, forming a picture that was most unlikely. 

“Holy hell, Uncle Luke,” Ben gasped, falling back on their familial bond in the face of trauma, “what the heck was it? A wild animal? Several wild animals?” Because his rational mind was unable to accept the truth of the matter.

Luke frowned at this acknowledgement of their kinship while in uniform, but didn’t reply.

“That’s what I think,” Chewie grunted from behind him.

Just then Rose pulled up in her car. She headed into the diner for a look and lasted exactly three seconds before running out and heaving her guts into the nearby bushes.

“What the blazes did that?” she asked at last, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “Was it an animal? Or several wild animals? Luke, is that really Amilyn and Kaydel in there?”

“Well, it used to be,” Luke said with unexpected irony. He rolled his neck, getting himself together, and turned to Ben. “So what are you thinking happened?”

Ben frowned. “You really want to know?”

“Hell, yeah.”

And he spoke the words for the first time. “I’m thinking zombies.”

Ben saw Rose’s jaw fall open and Luke freeze in disbelief. “What?”

“You know, zombies. Ghouls. The undead,” he persisted.

“Are you trying to tell me you think zombies did this?” Luke asked, his tone rising.

Ben stuck his hands in his pockets. He knew what he knew. “Yep.”

“Things have been weird around here,” Chewie said to Luke’s increasing displeasure. “Those multinational companies with their corporate sanctioned assault on nature…”

“Polar fracking?” Rose interjected.

“…have sent the earth off its axis. I mean, the sun didn’t set until two am this morning, and it rose again three hours later!”

“The newspapers are saying the planet’s diurnal rhythms are off, but it’s nothing to worry about,” Rose muttered.

“Sure,” Ben said, gently sarcastic, “nothing to worry about nightfall at noon.” 

But Luke had had enough. He instructed Rose to keep the gawkers away until the coroner arrived. He was due for Maz’s body, so he could take a look at Amilyn and Kaydel as well.

After that, Luke ordered Ben to come with him as they visited nearby businesses, making sure everyone else was alright. That was the real reason they were at the motel, which brought him back to the present.

Ben watched as the girl and her two friends exited the motel’s main office, letting themselves into a room. Mitaka came to stand with Luke and Ben once more. They’d already said what they had to say, but it was good to be with people when tragedy struck. 

“You better warn those three not to wander too far,” Luke said, glancing at Ben.

“Me?”

“Yeah, you. I saw the way you and the girl were eyeballing one another.”

Mitaka sniggered and Ben felt inordinately pleased, even on a day like this. “I do seem to have an affinity with her.” 

He did as ordered, returning to Luke and Mitaka barely a minute later.

“How did they react?” Chief Skywalker wanted to know.

Ben shrugged. “They were watching the news and asked if we had any zombies around here. And then they laughed.”

“Infernal hipsters with their irony,” Mitaka scowled. “Just wait until reality bites them in the butt.”

Luke was blinking as if blinded by the sun that refused to set. “Wait, what? A news report about zombies? Are you making this up, Ben?”

Ben shook his head. “This whole thing’s gonna end badly, Uncle Luke.”


	3. Ghosts Inside A Dream

Rey sat paralysed on the end of her single bed as a newscaster with unlikely blonde hair and tanned cleavage continued her report. Zombies roaming the earth- what the actual hell?

Poe was laughing, well on his way from tipsy to smashed. “Ooh, flesh eating zombies!” he said in a mock scary voice, leaning closer to Rey.

“Don’t,” she snapped, focused on the television.

“We should go speak to that Harry Potter guy at the gas station,” Poe chortled. “I’m sure he’d know all about a zombie apocalypse.”

Rey clenched her hands into fists. “Don’t joke. That’s not even funny. In fact, it’s really creepy.”

“Rey, come on,” Finn said, sprawled on his bed, phone in hand. “I know things are weird, but zombies? Really? We’re watching some crackpot redneck station with no credibility.” 

He’d been trying to repair his phone for the last half an hour. Rey’s cellphone was also behaving strangely, not that she’d told Finn. Confessing they had a shared unworkable electronics problem might be an admission of something far worse.

“The cop said…”

“Ah, the cop,” Poe declaimed, interrupting her. “The one you couldn’t take your eyes off?”

“Shut up, Poe,” she snapped. “Think for a second. Why would he warn us to stay inside if everything’s so wonderful?”

“Seriously, are you gonna fall for every country hick who looks at you twice?” Finn grumbled.

Rey stood up and headed to the bathroom, ignoring Poe’s cackle of laughter and Finn’s groan of apology, closing the door and locking it behind her. She wasn’t even angry with the boys- they were merely being their idiotic selves. She wanted space to quietly freak out.

The world was going to hell in a handbasket. She finally understood that saying.

Rey turned on the tap in the narrow bathroom and splashed her face. Finn was right, of course, there was no use panicking until they heard from reputable sources about what was happening. She dabbed her cheeks dry, already feeling a little better.

That was when she heard it, the knock on their motel room door. The walls were paper thin and she might as well have still been in the bedroom with Finn and Poe for the lack of soundproofing. Rey nearly yelled to the boys not to answer, but she swallowed the warning at the last second. Neither one of them would listen to her anyway. 

That decision would haunt her the rest of her life.

Poe was grumbling as he pulled open the motel room door. She could hear everything so clearly it was as if she was there, but then the picture in her mind turned murky. Whoever was on the other side was making unintelligible sounds, not speaking words but uttering snarls and growls. Rey stiffened. Was it a wild animal that had come scratching on their door?

Poe howled and then there were wet, crunching sounds, the crash of furniture and the banging of unsecured items. Rey froze in shock. Poe went quiet which surprised her. She heard Finn yell next, a hoarse cry that was abruptly cut off. Rey shook like a leaf inside the bathroom. Neither one of her friends had called out to her for help but that didn’t matter. Something wasn’t right.

Self-preservation was making it difficult for her to open the bathroom door but she did so with trembling fingers, peering through the crack she made. It took her several seconds to process what she was seeing. At least a dozen people swarmed the carpeted floor, horrible, guttural noises coming out of their mouths. And then she realised what they were doing.

Poe lay dead near the doorway, a massive chunk of flesh missing from his face, revealing the white of his jawbone. Five figures bent over his stomach, feasting on organs and innards, the pool of blood surrounding his splayed limbs only growing with each bite. In horror, she understood the second group must be feeding off Finn. He was completely hidden by the teeming bodies.

Rey forced herself to shut the bathroom door as quietly as she could, not wanting to notify the gang of cannibals that there was more fresh meat nearby. 

No, not cannibals. Zombies. She remembered the news report, her brain so numb with fear it latched onto dry facts in relief. Except it was impossible. What she’d just seen with her own eyes was impossible. Actual live zombies. Well, not live, since they were zombies and therefore dead.

She slid to the bathroom floor, her knees giving way, her back leant against the tub. She closed her eyes, sickened by slobbering sounds coming from the other side of the wall. Those things… zombies… looked strange. Flesh like melted cheese, the colour of grey putty, eyes sunken and lifeless, hair stringy and ashen. Their movements were jerky and slow, though they sure knew how to eat.

At this thought, Rey lurched forward on her knees and threw up the burrito from the vending machine. She rinsed her mouth afterwards and even brushed her teeth. With the amount of noise going on outside she didn’t think anyone would notice.

She sank back to the ground and laid her clammy forehead against raised knees. Listening and waiting. She wanted to block her ears but she made herself endure every awful sound, as if it was penance for the fact she was locked safe inside the bathroom while Finn and Poe were being consumed.

She wasn’t sure how long it took but after a while there was silence. She continued to sit on the floor, letting the minutes tick by. At last, she allowed herself to cry. To her surprise, the tears didn’t last long. She suspected she was in shock. 

How was it possible this morning she’d wanted to slap Poe silly for flirting with her and strangle Finn for being possessive over her and now… now they were both dead? Eaten by zombies.

The world had gone mad. Or maybe she was the one going mad. It was all very, very strange.

Rey stood up shakily, and instead of simply rinsing her face she had a shower. It was a childhood remedy, back when she would stand in a trailer’s cramped bathroom and attempt to literally wash away taunting words about her ill-fitting clothes or insults from a drunken Uncle Unkar. She carefully dried herself off with a thin scrap of towel provided by the motel and then combed her hair, pulling it into three little buns. 

At least she’d had the presence of mind to leave her toiletries in the bathroom, she thought, spreading lotion over her skin, covering every tanned inch of herself, before applying her favourite perfume with notes of jasmine and amber. She had no choice but to put on the same clothes, but that was okay. She already felt better.

Rey understood what she was really doing. She was delaying the moment when she’d have to open the bathroom door and face the corpses of two of her best friends. And what if there were stray zombies roaming the area? She had nothing to defend herself with.

Rey thought of the lanky police officer she’d met a few hours ago, though now it felt like a lifetime. Her cell wasn’t working but there was a landline in the room. If she could gather up the courage to leave the bathroom, she could call the police station and he would come to her rescue. She recalled his intense eyes and broad shoulders and full lips and told herself she was sick. How could she be lusting after him when the people she cared about had just been killed by zombies?

What she needed was a plan. 

Step one: leave the bathroom. Step two: call the police.

No, not quite. Step two: avoid stepping on blood and viscera. Step three: call the police. Step four: should she find Finn’s car keys? 

Regardless of how hot their officers, it would look bad if she left the area without speaking to the local cops. Rey remembered the round faced motel manager. What was his name again? It had sounded both German and Japanese. Anyway. She wondered if he was still alive. If he was, wouldn’t he have come to check on her? Then again, a sane person would have run screaming had they seen a mob of zombies coming toward them. 

She was getting distracted. Back to the plan.

Step four: locate car keys. Step five: drive as far away from Centerville as possible.

And then she heard it. Voices. Not growls or snarls or the sound of teeth chewing wet, sloppy things, but actual human conversation. 

Rey plastered herself against the bathroom door, straining to listen. There was a creak, the sound of the room door being pushed open. Had the zombies been polite enough to shut the door behind them? Surely not. The wind must have done it. 

“Oh, that’s bad,” a male voice declared as he saw whatever was in the room.

Heart pounding, Rey threw open the bathroom door. There were three people in front of her, two outside and one standing in the middle of the room. A young woman screamed in shock and the one closest to Rey raised his hand. He gripped a machete, the blade long and shiny, but froze mid-swing when their eyes met.

It was the police officer, the one she’d been having palpitations over, and Rey launched herself into his arms. She wrapped herself around him, burying her face in impressive pecs. He was warm and real and firm… and more muscular than she’d expected. 

“There, there,” he said awkwardly, patting her on the head like a stray kitten.

“Oh, thank God you’re here,” she gasped into his chest.

“Are you okay?” he asked, the low rumble of his voice helping settle her fears.

“No,” she mumbled, wondering if she could stay this way forever, arms around his lean waist, her face buried in his shirt.

Behind them, someone cleared his throat. “Um, miss? I’m sorry I have to ask this, but did you witness what went on in here?”

Rey reluctantly lifted her head and gazed out the door at the silver haired man. “I heard more than I saw,” she admitted shakily.

The older man stepped gingerly over Poe’s corpse and held out a hand to Rey. “Why don’t we exit the crime scene, let Officer Solo over there do his job? You can come stand with us. I’m Chief Skywalker and this here is Officer Rose Tico.”

Rey gave Officer Solo one last longing stare before accepting Chief Skywalker’s hand. She tried not to look Poe in the face as she hopped over him. She caught a glimpse of half chewed tongue hanging out of a hole in his face that wasn’t his mouth.

“What’s your name, dear?” the chief inquired.

“Rey Niima,” she supplied numbly.

Officer Tico was a pretty, almond eyed young woman with dark hair. She gave Rey a cool onceover that Rey assumed was because she’d just been clinging to her colleague like a snail on a damp rock, but Rey didn’t care.

“Was it zombies, Rey?” the chief asked, his matter-of-fact tone somehow soothing.

“Yes,” she replied. 

And then, without any warning, the man she wanted to bone lifted his machete and started hacking at Finn’s body. Specifically, his neck.

“What the hell, Ben?” Officer Tico exclaimed. “They’re not zombies- they’re just dead people.”

Ben Solo. Rey decided she liked his name. A lot.

“Well, yeah, for now they’re just dead hipsters. Sorry, dead people,” he said, shooting Rey a contrite look. “They haven’t turned yet. It can take a while.”

Rey frowned. She wanted to protest the label but then decided it didn’t matter. Chief Skywalker was watching her with concern, but after everything she’d been through this was nothing. Finn and Poe were gone. Better they stay that way than she see them reanimated and dragging their bloody corpses down a street.

“No, Ben’s right,” Rey said with surprising calm. “We need them to remain dead.”

She stood with her arms folded across her chest as Poe’s head was separated from his mangled body with a few sure strokes. Blood flew high and some landed on Officer Tico’s cheek. She squealed and scrubbed at her face disgustedly with a tissue.

As Ben exited the room, dripping machete in hand, Rey asked, “What now?”


	4. A Life That We Don't Own

They were back at the station house and Ben couldn’t stop staring at Rey’s tits. Rey- that was her name, this perfect little angel with her golden, elastic thighs and firm, uptilted breasts. 

Talk about bad timing. He couldn’t exactly hit on her with her friends recently murdered and eaten by the undead… could he? The funny thing was if it hadn’t been for the zombies, they wouldn’t be talking at all. She would be fast asleep in a motel room bed, blissfully unaware of his existence. Maybe this was fate throwing them together. 

“It’s strange,” Rey said. She was standing at the station front window, gazing at a narrow strip of lawn that could do with mowing. “Is it really three a.m.?”

Ah, that. It was blazing hot at the moment, bright enough to be noon on a summer’s day. 

“What can I say, the world has turned into a strange place,” Rose murmured, coming to stand beside her. 

The two girls exchanged weary smiles. 

“If you ask me, this whole thing’s gonna end badly,” Ben offered, unable to help himself.

Luke shot him an irritated look from behind his desk. “So you keep mentioning,” he snapped. “What exactly do you mean, Ben?”

“I don’t know. Just a feeling, I guess,” he replied. “A strong feeling.”

Rose rolled her eyes. “Oh, boy.”

Ben knew what he knew. 

“What exactly is happening?” Rey asked, turning to look at him. It was something he’d noticed- she kept looking at him. Probably a good sign. “Is this some sort of epidemic?”

Ben blinked. “It’s zombies.”

“How?” she snapped. “I mean, really- how is that possible?”

“Well, they’re undead. They’ve been reanimated because the earth was pulled off its axis by the polar fracking. Greedy corporations have destroyed life as we know it.”

“But the authorities and energy people keep saying that’s not true,” Rose protested, looking a little wild around the eyes. “They said it’s unrelated to what they’re doing in the North Pole.”

Ben, Rey and Chief Skywalker all stared at Rose.

Her face crumbled. “Really?” she wailed.

“We need a plan,” Chief Skywalker said. “Or at least weapons.”

Ben looked at the machete he’d found in the evidence storage cage. The most damage it had done before today was by a bunch of drunken teenagers. They’d used it to carve a reasonably recognisable penis on Sam Snoke’s barn door. 

“Uh-oh,” he said, meeting the chief’s blue eyes. “We forgot Farmer Snoke.”

“What?” Luke said, looking confused.

“Weren’t we supposed to warn everyone to stay inside?”

“As if that’s gonna do any good,” Rose muttered.

“Screw Snoke,” Luke declared. “What’s that old bag of bones done except complain about everything and everyone?”

“Really? He is a citizen of Centerville.” Ben sounded mildly surprised.

Luke glanced at Rey who was watching him with interest and heaved a sigh. “Fine. But all the power lines are down so you’re gonna have to drive out there and tell him yourself.”

“I can do that,” Ben agreed.

“Could I come with you?” Rey asked. “I’d rather not be alone.”

Ben arched an eyebrow in Luke’s direction.

“Oh, what the hell,” Luke declared, and Ben knew he was speaking as his uncle and not as the chief of police when he acquiesced. “You two go ahead. Rose and I will swing by the hardware store and see what else we can find to use as weapons. We’ll meet back here asap.”

Ben ignored Rose’s curious gaze as he led Rey to his personal vehicle. She did a double take when she saw it.

“Is that really yours?” she asked doubtfully.

He looked at the tiny red smart car and nodded. “Yup. Fully electric and a great way to reduce carbon emissions.”

“But…” Rey looked momentarily at a loss for words. “…you’re seven feet tall. How do you fit in there?”

“It’s surprisingly spacious,” he said, getting into the driver’s seat as if to prove his point. “And I’m six foot three.”

When he glanced her way again, Rey was sliding into the seat beside him, her cheeks unnaturally pink. He wondered what she was thinking.

Farmer Snoke’s property lay on the very outskirts of Centerville, which meant the drive took roughly ten minutes.

“So what’s wrong with this guy?” Rey asked with a wry smile. “Chief Skywalker sure doesn’t like him.”

“Aw, Snoke’s not so bad,” Ben replied. “Bit of a crank. He’s always complaining about something, which means the Chief and I have to haul ass to see him every week. Snoke’s the richest person in town, so I guess that makes him feel entitled.” He took a right and drove up a gravelled pathway. “I feel sorry for Farmer Snoke, truth be told. He’s all alone in his great big house.”

And it was a big house; cream render, grey slate and three stories making it the fanciest domicile in Centerville. Ben drove through open wrought iron gates and up a gravelled driveway. He parked out the front but before they could exit the car the front door burst open.

“Finally!” Snoke yelled, striding out. He was a tall, thin man with sparse grey hair dressed in a blue flannel robe, a mug of coffee in his hand. “I’ve been trying to get a hold of you lot for hours.”

“The phone lines are down,” Ben explained.

“I noticed,” Farmer Snoke said snappishly. He glared from Ben to Rey, who’d stopped a few feet away. “Who’s this- your sidekick?” Snoke demanded with no attempt at humour.

“She’s…”

“Never mind! What’re you gonna do about my problem?”

Ben exchanged a look with Rey. “What problem would that be?”

“Come with me,” Snoke growled.

And that was how Ben and Rey found themselves trailing after the grizzled old man around the big house to where they could gaze at his fields. Apart from a couple of prosperous looking barns, there really wasn’t that much to see. 

“Well?” Snoke demanded.

Ben was growing tired of the old man. He had better things to do than guess what was on Farmer Snoke’s mind. So long as he wasn’t looking at a half-eaten carcass or a reanimated corpse, he figured the problem was not a priority. 

In the meantime, Rey had sidled up to him. “Is that…”

“Yup, a penis.” Ben was surprised Snoke had yet to sand the impromptu carving off his barn door.

“Why…?”

“Vandals.”

“Teenagers?”

“Yup.”

He heard her swallow a giggle and just about fell in love. Ben wondered if he’d get any time alone with Rey. Zombie apocalypse notwithstanding, he sure did like her company.

“My cows!” Snoke yelled, realising from Ben’s reaction that he hadn’t figured out what was wrong. “My cows are missing! Someone’s stolen my cows!”

Ben gazed at the empty fields. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

“You don’t suppose the zombies got them?” Rey asked under her breath.

“What?” Snoke squawked. “What did you say, girly?”

“I think it’s human flesh they want,” Ben replied. “Besides, it looks like the fence in the corner over there’s been trampled to the ground. I think the cows know what’s up and have taken refuge in the woods.”

“What in tarnation are you two going on about?” Snoke continued to yell. “Are you a police officer or a damned science fiction writer, Ben Solo?”

A hollow, bone chilling moan drifted up to them and Rey’s eyes grew big.

“Where’s your knife?” she asked sharply. 

Ben had left the machete in the car, lest Snoke recognise it as the same tool that defaced his barn door. 

“What’s wrong with you?” Snoke said, peering into the distance where a stocky figure was lurching its way closer. “That’s just Snap. I hired him as a farmhand. He’s got a brain the size of a pea, but he gets the job done.”

“Ben,” Rey whispered. Her momentary good spirits were gone and he understood why.

He could smell Snap on the soft breeze that blew their way and it was deeply unpleasant- the iron tang of fresh blood mixed with the decay of rotting meat.

“Farmer Snoke, we’ve been having a bit of a zombie problem,” Ben informed the old man.

“Have you taken leave of your senses, Solo?” he said, tossing the rest of his coffee on the ground.

“It’s the polar fracking that’s done it,” Ben continued undeterred. “Snap looks like he may have been bitten and succumbed to its influence.”

Snoke gave him a look of savage disgust. “Don’t be an idiot.”

Ben tried to grab the older man to hold him back, but for all his grey hair Snoke remained surprisingly spry. He took off at a trot toward Snap, calling out as he did, “Well, you’ve made yourself useful for once coming here like this. The cows are missing and we need to…”

Rey clutched Ben’s arm as Snap launched himself on Snoke, his mouth opening wider than humanly possible and closing again with a crunch on Snoke’s shoulder. The old man yelled, more angry than afraid, but Snap’s next move was to rip open his throat. Snoke’s jugular spurted blood as Snap feasted.

“Oh, yuck,” Ben said, genuinely grossed out.

“We need to go,” Rey said.

They turned to see another half a dozen figures milling about the car, as if the zombies could tell it had recently been occupied by something edible.

“Damnit, I should have held onto that machete,” Ben sighed.

Rey grabbed him by the hand and pulled him towards the barn. “We can hide out there until they leave.”

Ben nodded. That sounded good to him. He was gonna get time alone with Rey after all.


	5. Someday We're Gonna Wake Up

“Snap must be freshly dead. I mean, his chest was all bloody but he didn’t look like the others near the car. Their clothes were tattered and their flesh was as grey as cement.”

Rey hugged herself, shivering as Ben explored the barn, looking for something that could be used as a weapon. He hefted a steel hoe in his hand.

“Do you think the dead are actually crawling out of their graves?” he asked.

She stared at him in horror and he finally noticed her expression.

“Hey, now, you alright?” He propped the hoe against a wall and walked back to her.

Rey leant into him and he hesitantly put his arms around her. Now was not the time to be timid, she decided. The old Rey would have danced around her interest for this man with his broad chest and deep voice, but she was determined to have a taste before a pack of zombies ended her life. 

“Ben?”

“Yes?”

“I’d like to have sex. With you, if that wasn’t clear.”

He pulled back and the brief loss of contact upset her. 

He placed his hands on her shoulders and looked into clear hazel eyes. “Um, I’m not sure that’s such a good idea, Rey. I mean, you’re probably in shock and need a nap or something…”

Rey peeled off her t-shirt, pleased she’d eschewed a bra when she saw him gulp hard at the sight of juicy pink nipples. “Please?” 

He pursed his lips. “Sure.”

Which was how Rey found herself perched atop a bale of hay, Ben’s broad hands holding her thighs wide open as he ate her cunt with voracious hunger. She was incredibly wet, slick oozing out of her pink slit, her body accommodating his lapping tongue with plenty of clear honey, so aroused that her nipples ached on her little breasts, wet from his saliva and marked by his teeth.

She’d expected Ben to be gentle. She supposed it was because his demeanour was so calm and thoughtful even in the face of zombies, but he wasn’t tender. As a matter of fact, he attacked her like a ravening wolf and it was exactly what she needed.

Once he judged her ready, the junction of her thighs hot and moist and aching, Ben placed his hands on her waist, turning her around to face the wall. Rey watched him over her shoulder, biting her lip, struggling to remain cool and collected. He unzipped the fly of his khaki pants. He was so stiff that the broad head of his cock was weeping with need. She’d done that to him and was pleased by the evidence of his lust.

“Ben…” she begged as he hesitated.

Desire powered his next move. He placed the head of his manhood against her moist slit, sliding inside her without preamble. Rey squeaked, then gasped. She tried to spread her thighs a little more but was hampered by her underwear wrapped around her knees. Ben eased out in slow, sticky inches, and when it was only his tip that remained within her quim, he thrust balls-deep inside her again.

She moaned his name and he was lost. He gripped her by the waist and hammered into her, his rod thick and stiff, her cleft hot and wet. She dug her short nails into the wood of the wall, desperate for something that would ground her as he drove her body into a mind-altering state of pleasure.

Ben fucked her deep, teeth gritted and eyes like fire. She revelled in the slap of his hips against the soft curve of her buttocks, her bliss like quicksilver as her tight passage was stroked and teased by his steel hard cock. Over and over he invaded her velvet tunnel, using her flesh for his pleasure but making sure she was enjoying herself too.

Her orgasm hit hard. Rey shook and quivered, crying out his name as her insides melted like wax, coating his manhood with more juices. Ben found the time to grin, enjoying her loss of control. All for him, pinned as she was by his throbbing staff.

He did not stop his rough and thorough screwing of her wet pink slot, pounding her without mercy, grunting now with every thrust. Her legs began to buckle and he wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her up and continuing to ride her silken quim for all he was worth.

Ben must have felt the same way as she did. This was more than sex, more than a physical act. In the last few hours, they’d seen so many dead it was as if they wanted to prove they were still alive.

At last she fell to her knees and he dropped to the ground with her, their sticky loins still joined. Rey was bowed over the dusty floor as Ben continued to claim her from behind, long, blissful plunges of his thick organ that made the hot petals of her sex split and clutch at him. He owned her body completely and it was making her dizzy.

Once she was reduced to a shuddering bundle of nerve endings, he allowed himself to come. He filled her with hot, creamy jets of male seed, branding her with his essence. She climaxed once more, her plaintive wails filling the barn.

Ben pulled Rey into his arms and rocked her gently. She whimpered, snuggling her face into the crook of his neck, her fingers clutching at the front of his uniform shirt. He hadn’t even undressed.

Rey remained in Ben’s grasp until the enormity of what they’d done intruded on her peace of mind. This was so unlike her. She gazed anxiously down at herself, suddenly conscious that she was almost naked while he’d kept his clothes on. She reached for her tangled panties and he released her.

Blushing and still breathless, she struggled back into her shorts and t-shirt. She checked her hair but her locks remained secure in their three little buns. When she turned to face Ben he was already zipped up, looking completely normal apart from the rusty hoe in his hands.

Rey met his shining amber gaze and felt her pink cheeks burn scarlet. She struggled to think of something to say that didn’t feel too desperate like, ‘Do you have a girlfriend, Ben?’ Or, ‘Do we have a future, Ben?’ Or even, ‘Do you like college girls with small boobs, Ben?’

The silence was agonising, and then he spoke. “We should check to see if the coast is clear.”

A fourth question popped into Rey’s head. ‘Did the fact that you just screwed me in a barn mean anything to you, Ben?’ 

His dedication to duty stung even though she knew he was only being responsible. They had promised Chief Skywalker they’d meet him back at the station.

“Fine,” she agreed, though her tone was unavoidably snarky.

She was such an idiot, believing this man was attracted to her the same way she was to him. What did she think was going to happen? She’d offered him her body, no strings attached, and he’d taken full advantage of the situation. He hadn’t done anything wrong. Then why did she want to hit him across the head with the farming implement in his hand?

“Rey,” he said, slowly and reluctantly, “do you regret what we did?”

“No!” she gasped, taken aback by his question. Strangely, the simple truth of her reply made her feel better. “No regrets, Ben. I just… I don’t know what I expected would happen after.”

“Do you think the dead can sense us?” he asked, heading for the barn door and peering through a gap in the slats.

She realised he hadn’t understood what she’d meant, that she was talking about the two of them and not the world outside. Who cared about zombies when a six foot three police officer had just had his way with her? Her knees still felt rubbery.

Rey told herself to grow up- Ben had more important things to worry about than whether she was girlfriend material.

She joined him. “If all the people who were dead and buried are reanimating, that’s a huge number of zombies to consider.”

“Not all,” he murmured. “Some are probably too decayed.”

Rey considered this as Ben lifted the wooden plank he’d used to secure the doors. “It’s the newly dead we have to worry about,” she said, thinking out loud. “They’ll be the hardest to kill.”

“I agree,” he replied, stepping cautiously outside.

It had grown quiet with nary a zombie to be seen. Rey saw movement outside Farmer Snoke’s fence line and gasped.

“What is it?” Ben asked, but she was already relaxing.

“Look.” She couldn’t help the humour that laced her voice. 

Two gentle-eyed cows watched them from the outskirts of the forest. 

“Snoke had over a dozen milk cows,” Ben said as the animals ambled away. “We may have to wrangle them home at some point.”

The only scenario where that would be necessary was if they needed the cows for milk and meat. Rey bit back a whimper as she realised Ben was coolly considering a situation where they might come under siege. 

“Don’t you think help is on its way?” she asked, trying to smother the panic that was robbing her of air. “The army or the air force?”

“Maybe,” Ben said, headed towards the car. “Maybe not.”

And that was a fact. Rey nearly hated this man for his pragmatism. She wished he would offer her some consolation, no matter how manufactured. 

She shook her head. No, that wasn’t true. She was glad for his honesty. As hard as it was to bear, Ben’s cold acceptance of the reality of the situation was probably the only thing keeping them alive. There was no wasting of breath, no arguing against evidence, just a simple acknowledgement of what needed to be done next.

He handed her the hoe and recovered the machete from his little car. Rey trailed behind Officer Solo as he returned to the place where Farmer Snoke had fallen, killed and eaten by a man he’d once considered a servant. She watched as Ben separated head from neck, trying to ignore the gaping wounds in Snoke’s mangled body where Snap the zombie had feasted. 

“Done,” he mumbled to no one in particular, his blade dripping blood as they returned to his vehicle once more.

Rey blinked as she slipped into the passenger seat while Ben wiped clean the machete on the grass. The sun had turned from blazing yellow into a ball of fiery orange. She felt like she was losing her vision when she realised that wasn’t it at all.

She checked her watch. Four in the morning and at last the sun was setting. Ben drove back into Centerville with haste, as if the darkness itself was chasing them. By the time he parked his car outside the police station, night had fallen.

Rey resisted taking Ben’s hand as they stood staring up at a starless sky. 

“You know what, Ben,” she said, her voice strained, “I’m starting to have a bad feeling about this too.”


	6. Never Paying Any Mind

“Where the hell have you two been?” Rose demanded as soon as they walked through the door.

Ben caught Rey’s eye and tried not to look too guilty as he replied, “Sam Snoke is dead. Snap’s a zombie now.”

The news was shocking enough to get them off the hook.

“Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy,” Luke declared, drawing Rose’s ire.

“You can’t say things like that, chief.”

“Why not? Who’s to say what’s right and what’s wrong anymore?”

No one argued with him.

“Here we go, this is all we found,” a new voice declared.

Ben turned to see Hux and Chewie come through the station’s front doors, duffel bags thrown over their shoulders. The chief and Rose must have run into them. The two men placed the bags on the chief’s desk and began pulling out chainsaws and mallets, hammers and nail guns. There was even a sturdy looking baseball bat in the mix.

“Looks like you raided Lando’s hardware store,” Ben said.

Despite the fact his tone held no judgment, Hux reacted like he’d turned the sprinklers on him. “What else were we supposed to do? I wasn’t gonna risk my neck traipsing across town just to locate my hunting rifle.”

“Ben finds a machete handier than a gun,” Rey said coolly. The room full of people turned to stare at her. “He does,” she asserted.

“Nice to see you again, Rey,” Hux said. He hesitated a moment before shuffling over to stand beside her.

Ben raised his eyebrows. 

Rey gave Hux a pained smile. “Hi.”

“It’s been a while since the gas station,” Hux mumbled.

That answered that question. 

Ben tried to stifle the feeling of satisfaction that it had been his waist Rey’s tanned legs were wrapped around barely an hour ago. He was being childish. Hux was okay as far as people went, interesting enough to hold up his end of a conversation and not half as dumb as some others he regularly arrested on a Saturday night. 

The tall redhead was a true oddball in a town that barely accepted sushi as edible foodstuff. He’d always annoyed Ben at a low grade level since he wasn’t one of those cheery, helpful nerds, but preferred to serve up knowledge in a tone that suggested he was the only intelligent being for miles around. Most days that guaranteed a lack of female companionship, but this was no ordinary day. Ben was not the only one to realise inside Hux’s cluttered mind there might be answers to their predicament.

“What do you know about zombies, Armie?” Chief Skywalker asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Hux tore his gaze from Rey and blinked at the older man, thinking for a minute. “The only way to deal with zombies is to kill the head, chief,” he said, shooting a sidelong glance at Rey to make sure she was listening too. “I mean, I know it’s gruesome but complete decapitation is the way to go. It doesn’t matter if you use a machete,” this with a wave of his hand in Ben’s direction, “steel wire, hedge clippers, whatever. Just as long as the spinal cord is severed. That’s it. The only way to kill a zombie is to kill the head.”

“Um, are we sure it’s zombies?” Chewie asked hesitantly. He held a shotgun in his hand.

“You said they ate Amilyn and Kaydel’s flesh. It’s usually that or brains. Zombies like brains.” Hux stood up straight, his British accent thicker than usual as he said, “You can trust me, Chewie. It’s definitely zombies, okay? I’ve seen almost every zombie movie made and we need to be prepared.”

Chewie tightened his grip on his gun and Ben saw Luke frown in concern.

“I don’t know what to think anymore,” Chewie rumbled.

Rose walked up to the big man and patted him on the back. “We’re in this together.”

Ben caught her eye and nodded. Good ol’ Rose- even when she was clearly freaking out over a situation, she put other people first. He then realised Rey was staring from him to Rose and back again, as if assessing their relationship. And Hux was staring at Rey staring at Ben. 

Ben decided the situation had become unnecessarily complicated thanks to the fact he hadn’t been able to keep it in his pants. But honestly, what was a guy to do? After the day he’d been having, sex in a barn had never looked so good.

“What do we do now, chief?” Ben asked.

When in doubt, always ask the big cheese.

“Well, hells bells, Ben, how am I supposed to know?” Luke snapped. He seemed more frustrated than anything else.

“I would really like it if someone started lying to me and said things were all gonna be okay,” Rose declared.

She wasn’t quite yelling but there was a hysterical edge to her voice Ben knew spelled trouble. His mother would often speak that way just before she started throwing plates at his father’s head.

“Gee, Rose, I’m not sure I can,” Ben replied.

Rose turned to Chief Skywalker. “Please, chief?”

He sighed heavily. “It’s all going to be okay, Rose. Maybe it’ll go away just like a bad dream.”

“I doubt it,” Ben said.

“Yeah, right,” Rey mumbled at the exact same time.

Ben met Rey’s hazel gaze and they exchanged tight smiles. She had already lost too much to pretend this night would have a happy ending. And as for him… well, Ben preferred working with a clear head, if defending oneself and one’s town from the flesh eating undead could be considered work.

“I think we need to drive through town,” Luke said, his tone firm though his expression was reluctant. “Ben and I will take the patrol car and see what we can find. The rest of you stay safe in the station house.”

“If that’s the plan, I’m taking the baseball bat,” Ben declared.

“I’ll have the machete,” Rey piped up.

Luke turned to her. “Uh-uh, missy. Not this time. You need to remain behind with Hux and Chewie. I’m leaving Officer Tico in charge.”

Rey’s eyes went from Luke’s determined expression to Rose’s pale complexion. It looked like she was about to protest, but instead she turned to Ben. 

“What do you think?”

“Probably best if you do as the chief says,” he muttered, smothering a feeling of unease. 

There was a flicker of something in her eyes- anger? Disappointment?- but she conceded. “Fine, but I’m still holding onto the machete.”

“Fair enough.”

Rey took the big blade without looking at him which upset Ben a little. She followed this up by loudly suggesting Hux might want to tell her about the zombie movies he’d seen, which upset Ben a lot more.

“Come on,” Luke muttered, dragging Ben away from the sight of Rey perching her cute bottom on the edge of Rose’s desk next to Hux. 

The patrol car was old but in good condition. Luke got behind the wheel and Ben slid into the passenger seat. The streets were quiet and, after the never ending sunshine of the last week, the dark of night was a restful change.

“So you like the girl, huh?”

Ben opened his mouth reflexively to deny it but decided silence was the better part of valour.

“She’s a pretty little thing but now’s not the time to get distracted,” Luke warned. 

“You think I don’t know that?” Whatever else Ben would have said was lost as he spotted a figure in the distance. “Oh, damn,” he muttered.

“What is it?” Luke squinted. His night vision was notoriously poor.

“We never did go back to take care of Amilyn and Kaydel, did we?” 

Luke didn’t reply as Ben rolled down his window. He slid his upper body through the opening, tightening his grip on the baseball bat. There it was- the unmistakeable smell of rotting flesh on a cool night’s breeze. Ben rolled his shoulders and lifted the bat, getting himself into position. Rey mentioned the newly undead would be their biggest problem and she was right. Less decayed musculature meant a more difficult target.

Kaydel appeared first, shuffling along like a marionette on a string. Her skin had become strangely taut around her face, giving her defined cheekbones she probably would have loved had she been alive. Her flesh was greying, her eyes bulging out of her head, lips shrivelled and dark. 

“Slow down a second, chief?”

Luke obligingly did as requested and Ben wound up, swinging with all the power in his formidable arms. “Excuse me,” he politely muttered as the bat connected with the side of Kaydel’s head. 

There was a satisfying crunch. Her neck snapped, releasing a puff of powdery black stuff as she collapsed on the road. That was new. He realised it was his first time killing a zombie rather than decapitating a corpse. It appeared their blood had turned to dust in their veins. 

“Gotta kill the head,” he said, repeating the words like a mantra. 

Amilyn was not far behind, her body twisted in her attack so it looked like she was approaching them side on, almost like a crab. Ben took a swing at her head as well, destroying most of her skull. More black dust floated in the air and he tried to avoid getting it on himself. 

“Those were some pretty good swings,” Luke said as Ben slid back into his seat. “You played some minor league ball before you moved here, didn’t you? I remember Leia telling me.”

This reminder that Luke and his mother were brother and sister was a little disconcerting. “Well, a little Class A. It was a long time ago.”

Luke continued cruising down main street in the meantime, and there in the distance appeared more shuffling, lurching figures. 

“Hmph,” Luke grunted. “D’you feel like doing clean-up work?”

Ben nodded. The more zombies they eliminated now, the less they had to worry about in the future. “You set ‘em up and I’ll knock ‘em down, Uncle Luke.”

“This is gonna be a long night, isn’t it?” Luke sighed. “And I don’t mean the darkness. The sun could come up in the next five minutes for all we know.”

“This will end badly,” Ben agreed, feeling the warm weight of the weapon in his hands.

“That’s not what I meant,” Luke said exasperatedly. “Just because there are zombies in the world doesn’t mean we all get an unhappy end.”

“Oh, Snap!”

Luke glanced at Ben. “I’m glad you agree.”

“No, look,” Ben clarified, already hanging out the patrol car window. “It’s Snap.”

He readied his arm for another swing of the bat and hoped Rey was doing okay back at the station.


	7. The Silly Lives We Lead

He’d left her! Rey couldn’t believe it. After all the death they’d seen and all the sex they’d had in that hay filled barn, the sonuva bitch had left her behind. 

Rey sat fuming over Ben as Hux continued to prattle on about film theory. The pale redhead had progressed in his speechifying from the zombie trope to horror movies in general and the idea of the final girl. Rey couldn’t listen any longer.

“Excuse me,” she said, getting up and walking away from Hux mid-sentence.

This brusqueness wasn’t like her. The old Rey would have felt the need to think up a reason as to why she was leaving the conversation so Hux’s feeling weren’t hurt and, more to the point, so he still thought she was a good person. Screw that.

“How’s it going?” she greeted Rose.

The other girl had been talking to Chewie, but the old man was currently dozing in Chief Skywalker’s chair. Rose now stood in front of the big station window. 

Rose shook her head. “The dead are reanimating because the earth has been pulled off its axis thanks to greedy corporations and their polar fracking- I think that about sums it up. How am I doing? Not great, Rey. Not great at all.” 

“The dead don’t wanna die today,” Rey said, unable to resist imitating Ben’s practical demeanour. She found it helpful. “It’s a shame.”

“It’s all too weird,” Rose protested. “Chief Skywalker’s clearly rattled, which I’ve never seen before, and then there’s Ben.”

“What about Ben?” Rey asked, hoping the question came out mildly nosy instead of Spanish inquisition style interrogative.

Rose gave her a curious look and Rey knew she’d failed utterly on that front.

“Ben’s been acting really different since this all happened. He’s oddly controlled.” 

Rey didn’t know why but she felt instantly protective. “Maybe he’s just dealing with it his own way.”

Rose shrugged. “What’s going on between you two anyway?”

Rey dodged the question with one of her own. “Have you and Ben ever been an item?” 

The moment the words came out of her mouth, she realised she didn’t know anything about Ben. Maybe Rose was his girlfriend in the present tense.

Fortunately, Rose only looked amused. “Well, no. Why do you ask, Rey?”

“Merely accumulating local information.”

“You got the hots for Ben?” Rose pushed.

Rey turned her back on Hux who was watching them from across the room. “I do find him physically attractive,” she admitted.

Rose burst out laughing, making Hux stare harder and causing Chewie to mumble in his sleep.

“I guess you’ve known Ben all your life,” Rey said, trying to cover her awkwardness.

“Nope,” Rose replied somewhat to Rey’s surprise. “He’s a mystery, that one. Ben moved to Centerville some five, six years ago. He used to live in a big city and even earned himself a degree in engineering from MIT. Then his parents died in a freak accident and he came here to grieve. Luke is his mother’s twin brother, which was Ben’s connection to the town. None of us thought Ben would last long but he proved us wrong by sticking around, even joining the force.”

“Lucky me,” Rey said, her mind whirling at this information. 

Ben had a past just like hers. Was it fate that brought two lives together or just the chaos of a zombie apocalypse? Maybe Ben was placed in Centerville by the hand of destiny to await the day she arrived. Rey didn’t think she’d have stayed sane much less alive without his laconic presence. 

“Does Ben have a girlfriend?”

“Definitely not. The most passion I’ve seen him display was when he bought that ridiculous smart car.”

Rose and Rey looked out the window to where it was parked, gleaming in the moonlight. 

“It does help the environment,” Rey said mechanically, but she was distracted. 

Her mind conjured up the fast and furious screwing she’d experienced in the barn. Ben had been hella passionate with her for a good forty-five minutes. She’d seen stars with every orgasm he coaxed from her body. Apparently, that was not the man Rose was familiar with.

Maybe there was something going on between them after all. She’d been angry when Ben left with Chief Skywalker because she felt like the only person invested in making their very new relationship work, even with a plague of the undead. 

“What the hell!” 

The shout had come from Hux and the two girls swung around.

“Damnit, I forgot about Maz,” Rose groaned.

“Is she alive?” Hux squealed, backing away from the lurching figure of the old woman who’d appeared from a holding cell. 

“No, definitely undead,” Rey responded, not even wondering why a corpse would be reanimating inside the station. It had been that kind of a day.

“Steady there,” Chewie growled. 

The old man awoke from his nap and was pointing his rifle at the sickly skinned creature walking jerkily towards Hux.

Rose held up a hand. “Chewie, wait…”

But he didn’t listen, pulling the trigger. The shot sounded like thunder inside the station house. Rey watched zombie Maz jolt as the bullet sank into her greying flesh, but she kept coming. 

A strange calm descended over Rey. “I got this, guys.”

She walked up to the zombie, machete held high, and started hacking at the old woman’s neck. It took a few tries but eventually Rey decapitated her, the head rolling into a corner as the body collapsed, a cloud of black dust flying out of the stump of her neck.

Rose walked up to Rey, tucking away her handgun. “Those are some good cuts.”

“Thanks,” Rey said. She glanced over at Hux who was still cowering in a corner. 

Before she could ask if he was okay, the worst possible thing occurred- a zombie came flying through the window. Shattered glass rained down as Rey, Rose and Chewie ducked for cover. Hux was already crouched low. 

Slowly, inevitably, the glass covered zombie staggered to its feet. Rey recoiled at the smell coming off him. While Snap had grey flesh, this creature was almost worn down to the bone with decay. The skin that covered him look like shrivelled leather, every orifice on his body blackened with corruption. He crunched through broken glass towards the four living people in the room.

Chewie raised his gun and this time knew well enough to aim for the head. The zombie dropped to the ground in a cloud of black dust.

“Thanks, Chewie,” Rose said, but was interrupted by the sound of a snarling, gurgling horde.

There must have been a dozen creatures headed towards them, swarming the open window like flies on a dead body. Rey gave an involuntary yell, shocked by how fast they seemed to be moving. Then she realised it wasn’t that the ghouls were any quicker, but rather they were in each other’s way, clambering over one another with a mindless urgency, focused on getting to their next meal. 

The zombie horde was hungry.

A strange expression crossed Chewie’s face, at once determined and resigned. “Any other way outta here, Rose?” 

“Yes!” Rose dove for a sturdy door in the back and Rey heard her swear.

“What is it?” Rey hollered, lifting her machete in preparation. “More zombies?”

“No, damnit, it’s locked!” Rose reappeared, gun drawn and face flustered. “I mean, it’s always locked. We can’t have people waltzing into the station while our backs are turned, but Luke and Ben are the only ones with keys.”

“You gotta be kidding me,” Rey muttered, unable to feel anything more than a brief sense of despair. There was too much adrenaline pumping through her veins for her to panic.

“You girls get into the holding cell and lock the door,” Chewie said. “I’ll hold these bastards off as long as I can.”

“Chewie, no!” Rey cried out. She may not know the man but anyone willing to lay down their life for her needed to be talked out of it.

“Go!” he yelled as he began firing. 

Rey stumbled backwards as a zombie that came particularly close had its head blown off by Rose. The other girl had tears in her eyes.

“Come on,” Rose said, grabbing Rey by the hand and pulling her deeper inside the station.

“Rose, we can’t…”

“Chewie’s right,” she said fiercely. “Better some of us survive this disaster than none at all.” Her eyes were streaming but her jaw was firm.

Rey shook her head. “No, there has to be a better way…”

They heard a scream and turned around just in time to see Hux swarmed by four zombies. Rey knew it was too late when his yells stopped abruptly. It was this that made her accede to Chewie’s plan, allowing Rose to lead her into a cell and lock the door behind them. 

They could see everything through the bars. Chewie was out of ammunition and had started smashing the butt of his rifle on slavering zombie faces. It wasn’t very long before he too was overwhelmed. Rey was grateful when the shouting stopped, but then all they could hear was the crunch and gulp of monsters feasting on human flesh.

“This isn’t happening, this isn’t happening, this isn’t happening…” 

Rose collapsed on the floor, spine pressed against the cold brick of a wall, eyes wide open and staring, the words falling from her lips like a prayer. Rey sat on the ground beside her, placing an arm around her shoulders. She didn’t know how to comfort the other girl, so she said nothing.

The zombies found them, of course. They had their fill of Hux and Chewie before tracking the two girls, sticking waving hands and slavering faces through thick iron bars, bashing themselves against the barrier. Though it felt like days before Ben and Luke showed up, Rey worked out later it was little over an hour. A few of the zombies had grown tired by then and wandered away, but there were still five of the creatures struggling to get into the cell.

Ben appeared like an avenging angel, swinging a baseball bat with savage accuracy. He took out the zombies in quick succession, caving in heads and breaking necks. Rey never thought she could feel so much delight at skulls cracking open like eggshells. Each one released puffs of black dust, pollenating the air.

Luke found his keys and unlocked the cell door. To their surprise, Rose jumped to her feet and took off running. Rey heard a door slam shut down a corridor and then the sounds of someone being violently ill. She was glad Rose had held it in until now.

Ben helped her to her feet, the touch of his hands warm. Rey wrapped her arms around him in sweet relief. This time, he hugged her back.

“You alright?” he asked, his deep voice like music to her ears.

“Don’t ever leave me again.” Her voice was muffled by his shirt.

“Okay,” Ben agreed.

And Rey immediately felt better.


	8. The Reaping We've All Sown

Luke and Rose were arguing about what should happen next. 

Luke believed they still had a job to do, a responsibility to the community, and he wanted to patrol Centerville and look for survivors. Rose was under the impression they’d done well enough just by staying alive and should leave town. Luke looked surprised Rose was arguing with such ferocity, but the recently beheaded bodies of Hux and Chewie were all the backup she needed.

“Could we go somewhere private for a minute?” Rey asked Ben just as Rose’s voice climbed an octave and Luke’s turned as rough as gravel.

“Sure.” 

With unintentional irony, Ben led her to the station’s back door. Rey stared at Ben’s Imperial Class Star Destroyer keychain. 

“Huh.”

“What?” Ben asked, unlocking the door.

She indicated the keychain. “Star Wars- excellent fiction.”

He nodded in agreement.

The rear of the station house backed up against another building which created a narrow alleyway. Unlike the alleys in big cities, however, this one was clean and smelled of the nearby pine forest. Country living- there was nothing quite like it.

“I wasn’t sure what I’d find when I got back to the station, but it sure wasn’t that,” Ben said, surprising Rey by speaking first.

“What d’you mean?” she asked, breathing in deeply. 

The station smelled like a slaughterhouse so he could appreciate her getting the stench out of her nose.

“You seemed pretty chummy with Hux,” he said, “and yes, I do mean that to sound snide, and yes, I do know how ridiculous I’m being considering he’s newly dead.”

Rey couldn’t help herself- she laughed. “Oh good, I wanted to make you jealous.”

“You did?”

“Definitely.”

And then she was pushing her lithe body against his muscular frame, standing on tiptoes to offer him her mouth and he was kissing her back as if he was a dehydrated desert dweller at a magical water spout. Still, Ben being Ben, he couldn’t help but dig for information.

“Did you find out anything interesting from Hux?” he asked between voracious kisses. 

Rey paused long enough to give him a wicked smile. “Well, the undead are completely driven by their id; the part of the brain that demands we satisfy our desires. It wants what it wants.”

“Sounds familiar,” he mumbled as she undid his belt buckle and began tugging on the zipper of his pants.

“Most new viruses come from animals, like monkeys or bats,” Rey panted as she shoved Ben against a brick wall. “As humans destroy their habitats we’re exposed to all kinds of unfamiliar diseases. We’re the real so-called zombies, consuming everything we want without any regard for consequences. As we destroy the earth, so too we destroy ourselves.”

Ben frowned consideringly even though he was more than a little distracted by Rey’s fumbling hands. “That’s deeper than I would credit Hux with.”

Rey dropped to her knees, the cobblestones still warm from the blazing sunshine not two hours ago. She wrapped her fingers around his sex, significantly thicker than her slim digits. Ben enjoyed the contrast. 

“That last bit is from me,” she admitted, running her tongue up his cock in one long, wet stripe, making him grunt at the sensation. “Hux was more concerned about his favourite directors and why the horror movie genre should be considered Oscar worthy.” Rey admired the bulging red tip of Ben’s manhood and lapped up dewy tears leaking from it.

“Fuck,” Ben gasped. “Rey, what are you doing?”

She paused, his steel hard erection still tight within her grasp. “I thought my actions were fairly self-explanatory.”

He gave a huffing laugh. “No, I mean why are you doing this- here and now, in the back alley of my workplace?” 

“I like you, Ben,” she said seriously, her little hand beginning a slow, pumping motion along his stiff shaft. “A lot. And that includes your body.” He groaned as she leaned forward and licked the tiny slit atop his sex. “You can’t tell but my panties are soaked.”

Amber eyes lit up. “They are?”

“Oh, no you don’t. It’s my turn,” she said, a giggle slipping out. Ben decided he would do anything to hear that sound over and over again. “You got to eat me out in the barn, and now I want to suck you off in an alley.”

His eyes were at half-mast as she continued to prime his pump. “Sounds like a legitimate plan.”

“It is,” she affirmed. “I don’t intend to die before fully enjoying your huge dick.” 

Her words made both his heart and ego swell. She opened her mouth wide and popped the fat head of his cock inside it. He attempted to speak but she began to suckle and words turned into unintelligible noises. Big hands found the loosened buns of hair on the back of her head, undoing the chestnut coils and wrapping his fingers in silky locks. Ben didn’t have to urge her on since she was working him over so well, but he still enjoyed playing with her hair.

Rey began humming in delight, so enthralled was she by her early morning snack made out of Ben. He groaned as the vibrations of her throat tickled his rock hard cock, teasing him ever closer toward completion. He heard the snap of a button and looked down. Rey had unfastened her shorts, sliding her hands inside lace panties, fondling her dripping slit. Her humming turned into passionate moans as she stroked her little quim, locating the hard nub of her clitoris and circling it with two fingers while she enthusiastically choked on Ben’s throbbing prick.

He came with a shout, spurt after spurt of creamy semen filling her mouth. She swallowed like a woman on a mission, not spilling a drop. Ben moaned as she licked him clean afterwards, blood rushing to swell his organ once more. Rey petted his cock in delight, licking her lips as she gazed up at him from her position on her knees.

Those big doe eyes were killing him. Ben picked her up and pressed Rey against the brick wall he’d just been clutching. Her bare thighs hooked around his hips as he slid his aching cock deep inside her moist cunt. She was so small he was able to hold her up effortlessly, pounding deep inside her tight silk passageway.

Ben felt himself lose control once more, his hips moving frenetically. What was it with this girl? Her body had him addicted. He spent himself a second time deep inside her sheathe, his callused thumb stroking the bud of her stiff clit, bringing her off alongside himself. Rey wrapped her arms and legs tight around him, burying her face in his neck, her hot little slice milking his cock in spasms. 

By the time they were done, Ben’s legs had turned to jelly and he slipped to the ground, taking Rey with him. She stayed wrapped around him, her cheeks flushed and her lips parted. 

It took Ben a moment to regain his breath, but at last he spoke. “Rey?”

“Hmm?” she mumbled.

“Back in the station house, you told me not to leave you again.”

Her cheeks went from pink to fiery red. “Ye-es,” she said, drawing the word out.

“Just to clarify, do you really want me to stick around or was that in the heat of the moment?”

She lifted her head and pressed an impulsive peck on his lips. “I could kiss your mouth forever.”

“You don’t think it’s too wide?”

She gazed at him in surprise. “Not at all.”

“And my nose isn’t too big or my ears don’t stick out too far or my face isn’t all weirdly put together like human origami…”

“Ben!” 

She looked appalled and he found himself scrambling for words in an effort to explain. 

“I know I’m not a Hollywood heartthrob, Rey. Right now, in this moment, it’s okay if you need reassurance from someone. I’m more than happy to give it. You don’t have to pretend you’re into me just so I feel better.” He paused and took a breath. “I guess what I’m saying is, it’s fine if you want to use me but I’d rather you be honest about it.”

Her eyes grew big. “Why would you think I’m using you, Ben?”

“Apart from the fact we met like six hours ago?” he teased, but her face remained solemn, almost sad, so he tried to answer her question. “Come on, Rey, look at you. You’re too cute to fall for a small town cop with no career aspirations. You’re the kind of girl every guy goes for and there are better prospects out there than me. I bet one of those guys travelling with you was your boyfriend, right?”

Rey started guiltily. 

“Once Luke and Rose stop yelling at each other, I suspect we’ll make plans to leave Centerville to look for civilisation or a government emergency response camp of some kind. When we do, are you really gonna stay by my side or will you want to return to your old life?”

She flushed. “There might not be any old life left.”

“You never know,” he said with a shrug. “This plague may not be as widespread as we think it is.”

Rey shook her head as if clearing it. “Wait, what are you saying, Ben? Are you asking me if I really like you or are you telling me you don’t like me?”

He frowned. “That’s not what I…”

“Because that’s sure what it sounds like.” 

She peeled herself off him and began straightening her clothes. Her hair swung forward to hide her face.

Ben suspected he’d hurt Rey by questioning her motives. His forthrightness often got him into trouble; he was too damn honest most times. It made relationships awkward since most people preferred to sugar coat a situation rather than face the brutal truth.

He stood up, tucking his shirt into his slacks before fastening his belt. He could only imagine how mind-blowing it would feel to be completely naked with Rey on a proper bed. Hell, the motel would do in a pinch. Except he’d just messed things up, hadn’t he? This was the reason why he hadn’t dated in a long time- he always seemed to disappoint the woman he was with.

“Rey, are we okay? I hope you realise I’ll do my best to protect you no matter what.”

She snuffled and he wondered if she was crying. “I know, Ben. You’re a good guy.”

He was tempted to pull her into a hug but told himself to stop. Rey needed distance to work out what she wanted to do next. Or perhaps she’d already decided and that was what was making her upset. 

He watched in fascination as she brushed her hair with her fingers and put it into three little buns without a mirror. Girls had miraculous talents.

As they walked back to the station, Rey reached out with her hand and briefly squeezed his. “Just for the record, Ben Solo,” she said, her tone soft but determined, “I think you’re gorgeous.”

In that moment, despite the zombie horde infesting his town, Ben decided life still had its upsides.


	9. The Dead Will Still Be Walking

Rey had a suspicion Chief Skywalker and Rose knew exactly what she and Ben had been up to in the alley, but both were too traumatised and wearied by the undead to care. As it turned out, Luke and Rose had compromised on an exit strategy. They would patrol the town once more and then leave for the nearest city to look for help. 

That was how they all came to be in the squad car, Chief Skywalker and Rose in front, and Ben and Rey at the back. Rey supposed the other two thought they were doing her and Ben a favour by keeping them together, but after his little speech she was too embarrassed to look him in the face.

Because he’d been right, of course. Pre-zombie apocalypse Rey Niima would never have jumped the bones of a small town police officer, no matter how hot she thought he was. And for all the reasons Ben had mentioned. Did she really believe she had a future with this man or was she merely using him like a life raft to stay afloat while the Titanic went down?

Ben had unrolled the window and was hanging bodily outside the car, decapitating zombies as they went along, Chief Skywalker helpfully slowing down whenever they came across one. Rose was looking more and more terrified as they drove through the lightening gloom, but Rey was only concerned over the situation between her and Ben.

That’s right- it was the end of the bloody world and she wanted to work out whether the guy she was with was the kind of person she could commit to. The fact that Ben himself had been so calm about it kinda stung. Didn’t he want her?

_Grow up, Rey. The man is literally killing zombies and you’d rather he mope over you._

She realised that was the problem. Up til now she’d dated boys; needy, emotional creatures more interested in themselves than anything else. As long as she was screwing said boy, she temporarily became a part of his sphere of attention. Ben, on the other hand, was more interested in looking after everyone else, and while she was included in that list, he had a selflessness she couldn’t quite get used to.

This really was about her, wasn’t it? She thought she was all grown up because she’d escaped her trailer park life, but now that the world was falling apart she had to face facts. What was more important to her- a high flying career in a big city somewhere or happiness with a captivating man in the country? Assuming, of course, she survived the next couple of hours.

The bat went thwack and Rey watched Ben’s well-developed biceps and triceps flex. She wished it was enough for him to be so hot he melted her panties, but he’d called her into account. Of course, he had. What guy wanted to be the centre of another person’s universe until someone or something better came along?

She peered out her side of the car at the sky. It had turned a murky violet and even though nightfall had only lasted a few hours, she was happy the sun was rising. Things felt more normal in the daylight. Less spooky.

“Last stop,” Luke announced, “and then we’re outta here.”

“Where are we?” Rey asked, but Rose was already reacting.

“Oh, hell no!” 

“What?” Rey said, suddenly nervous. “What is it?”

A looming sign answered her question before Rose could reply.

“The Centerville Cemetery, chief? I mean, that’s like walking into ground zero.”

“It does seem unwise,” Rey said, offering her two cents for what it was worth.

“We have a job to do, Rose,” Chief Skywalker responded, determinedly driving forward. “If we give up on our duty, we might as well become one of those slavering monsters out there.”

“This is going to end badly,” Ben murmured.

“Shut up, Ben,” the chief snapped.

“No, you shut up,” he replied, annoyed.

“I said shut up!”

There was a brief but strained silence.

“I’m sorry I lost it,” Chief Skywalker mumbled, breaking the tension.

“It’s okay, Uncle Luke,” Ben replied. “It’s a strange time.”

In her seat, Rose sniffled and wiped away a tear.

“But I’ve got to say,” Luke went on, “you’ve been acting real different since all this weirdness started.”

Rey frowned. That’s what Rose had said about Ben as well.

“May I ask you a question?” Luke continued.

“Sure, ask away.”

Rey saw Ben’s capable hands tighten around the baseball bat, but otherwise he didn’t react.

“You’ve been saying over and over that this is all going to end badly. What makes you so damn sure?”

Ben hesitated. “Do you really want to know?”

“Yes, I want to know! I really want to know!” the chief yelled.

“I read the script.” 

The silence that followed crackled with a different kind of tension. Before anyone could respond, Rose gave a pitiful wail and threw herself out the car.

“Rose!” Rey yelled.

The passenger side door swung shut once more.

“What in the sam hell…” Luke grumbled, stopping the slow rolling vehicle. “Rose, get back in here. It’s not safe.”

“I can’t!” she declared, backing away from the car, eyes wide and frantic. “I can’t take this anymore! Zombies and reanimated corpses and the living dead- what the heck, guys?”

“To be fair, those are all the same thing,” Ben said.

“And you!” she yelled. “It’s not natural how calm you’ve been! You should be panicking like the rest of us, or at least acting flustered and instead you’ve got as much feeling as a mannequin…” Her hysterical assertions ended in a scream. 

Rey gasped. Out of the twilight gloom a black mouthed, bulging eyed figure launched itself on Rose. She went down hard and before any of them could even go to her rescue their car was surrounded.

“Well, that’s perfect, isn’t it?” Chief Skywalker growled. “Right in the middle of the damn cemetery.”

Dozens of zombies had appeared, moving as a pack. The ghoulish creatures moaned and hissed, thumping on the bonnet of the vehicle and banging on windows. 

“That’s a lot of monsters,” Rey said, her voice tight.

Rose’s screams had stopped and she knew they’d lost another one. Her heart ached.

“Well, Ben,” Luke said, glancing over his shoulder at his nephew, “I’m all for giving it our best shot.”

Ben nodded in agreement. “Let’s go.”

Luke turned to Rey. “You climb into the driver’s seat and pull away as soon as you can, okay? We’ll try to clear the path.”

She nodded, a feeling of darkness enveloping her. If she did as he asked, she’d be leaving the two men to certain death.

Luke stepped out of the car and Ben followed close behind, both making sure to slam their doors shut. Rey watched with her heart in her throat as they waded into a plague of zombies, one swinging a bat and the other unloading a shotgun. Necks broke and heads exploded, and for a while it looked as if they were making headway. 

A new wave of zombies appeared and Rey watched as Luke was overrun. He was taken by surprise, coming to a stop when he recognised one of the creatures before another three jumped him from behind. She was trembling now, as cold as ice. Rey realised she was going to lose Ben forever and experienced a new sensation. It wasn’t fear or the need for self-preservation- it was heartbreak.

She slipped out of the car, swinging the machete, making her way to the big man standing amongst the tombstones. The zombies were slow but plentiful. It was only Ben’s athleticism and youth that had kept him alive for this long. She had seconds to speak.

“Ben.” Rey tugged urgently on his uniform shirt and he half turned to face her. “I want to stay.”

“Excuse me?” he blinked.

She blushed scarlet, unable to believe she’d be shy at a time like this. “You asked if I really wanted to stay with you or if I was just using you. Well, I’ve decided. I want to be with you. For however long we have left on this earth.”

“Oh.” He seemed to consider this and then smiled, an expression so brilliant it lit up his whole face, making him appear surprisingly boyish. “Maybe things aren’t gonna end so badly after all.”

Rey laughed. “We need to change the script, Ben.” 

She turned her back to his and began hacking at a zombie neck that was stretched towards her. The creature bit the dust just as Ben smashed open another skull. 

“Farmer Snoke,” Ben announced as they continued to fight back to back.

“What about him?” Rey asked, confused. She coughed on a puff of black dust pouring out of a slashed zombie arm and hoped it wasn’t harmful in the long term.

“Not him- his property. That big ol’ house is surrounded by a sturdy fence line. Snoke’s also guaranteed to have a pantry full of food. Might be a good place to hole up for a while.” Ben aimed low, cracking a zombie at the knees before bashing its head in.

“Sounds like a plan,” Rey said. She was panting, her energy running low.

She vowed to start working out if she survived this day. Ben had barely broken a sweat while her lungs were on fire.

The two of them fought their way back to the car. Much to her horror, Rey was forced to decapitate a newly reanimated Rose. At least she'd made sure the other girl was resting in peace.

They cleared the glut of zombies in front of the patrol vehicle by the simple method of standing a distance away, drawing the moaning, snarling masses towards them. Rey fought back panic as she and Ben ploughed through a sea of mindless bodies towards the car. Ben helped her along with one hand on the waist of her shorts. Her heart was pounding in her chest as they barrelled their way out of the cemetery with a screech of tyres, kicking up dirt and gravel, hitting several lurching figures.

The sun had risen to reveal a cloudless blue sky and, as they left the snarling horde behind, she felt her first glimmer of hope.


	10. After Life Is Over, The Afterlife Goes On

They made it to Snoke’s farm, locking the big gates behind them. 

Ben’s first priority was to start repairs on the gap in the battered fence through which Snoke’s cows had escaped. He left Rey to get rid of a stray zombie. For some reason the lone creature was shuffling around the property, occasionally returning to Snoke’s decapitated corpse for a nibble. Rey hacked her way through its thick neck with some difficulty, but she got the job done. 

She returned to find Ben hammering in a post and laying down boards with nails for a makeshift barrier. He was beginning to look exhausted and she was glad when he finished the fence. He was only human, after all. Neither undead nor a ghoul.

“That should hold them off,” Ben said as they walked to Snoke’s house, his arm draped around her shoulders. “Let’s hope we’re far enough away from the boundary that the zombies won’t sense us. They might leave Centerville now there isn’t anyone left alive.” 

“That means the undead will travel towards big cities where they’ll find an all-you-can-eat buffet of human flesh,” Rey said coolly.

Ben shot her a look. “I know it’s not great, but we weren’t gonna win against an army of reanimated corpses. At least in the cities there’ll be a military presence. That’s where I’d be sending the big guns.”

She nodded. “And if things get dicey out here, we can always go hunting for wild cow in the woods.”

Ben laughed as they entered Snoke’s home. The old man had left the door open and they explored the structure room by room, checking to make sure no zombies had found their way inside. You never knew- the behavioural pattern of reanimated corpses was unfamiliar territory.

“Hungry?” Rey asked after they’d confirmed the dusty attic was clear.

They found cold lasagne in Snoke’s fridge and warmed it up in the microwave, eating like a couple of zombies themselves. Rey hadn’t realised how hungry she was feeling. Afterwards, they made their way to a guest bedroom that had a king bed with pale silk sheets. Ben pulled the heavy drapes shut to keep out the unnatural sunlight.

Rey peeled off her clothes and went to stand under the rainwater showerhead in the attached bathroom. The room still smelled of new paint and she wondered if Snoke ever had a guest stay there. Rey was a minute into her hot shower, chestnut hair plastered to her skull, when the glass door opened and Ben joined her.

Her smile wavered as she took in his nude body, broad shoulders and lean hips, the thick muscles of his chest and arms and thighs, his long cock. Despite their recent shenanigans, he hadn’t been totally naked with her until now.

“You look nice,” Rey said shyly, still unused to the physicality of this man.

He swooped down and caught her in his arms, kissing her firm on the lips.

Their lovemaking involved hot water and sudsy hands and unexpected bouts of laughter. They were so tired they were becoming delirious. Rey giggled and groaned as Ben knelt to French kiss her plump little mound, his tongue exploring that pink crevice he’d already claimed multiple times in the last twelve hours. He soaped her breasts until her nipples throbbed red like rubies and afterwards she insisted on swallowing his cock whole as the shower spray massaged her back.

He took her from behind, her legs spread wide as she bent over at the waist, clutching a narrow tiled shelf that held bottles of expensive gels and creams. He was big and hard and true, splitting her nearly in two, filling her full until taut muscles ached pleasurably. Ben lasted a long time- Rey supposed their previous encounters had helped take the edge off- and she moaned as he pounded her for interminable minutes.

They came together, their orgasmic rush making limbs shake and gilding their flesh with golden warmth. Rey turned to Ben at last, a fractured smile on her face. All of a sudden she was no longer laughing, her giggles replaced by tears, and she recognised the grief on his face as well.

They stood in tight embrace, the losses they had experienced like a pall over their souls. They would honour so many deaths by fighting to keep their own lives, she decided. They had to. 

They towelled themselves dry until skin tingled and then snuggled naked between silk sheets. Rey was already half asleep when Ben spoke.

“Do you think when a zombie consumes blood it’s like a normal person drinking hot chocolate? I mean, fresh blood is warm, isn’t it?”

Rey nestled against his broad shoulders, wondering if his question was weird or if she was for finding it reasonable. 

“There’d be a lot more screaming involved with zombie blood hot chocolates,” she said drowsily.

Ben turned his head to kiss her and Rey experienced a surge of gratitude. In this crazy world they were in, she’d found one warm body to hang onto, until death did them part. Though in this case, if they got killed and infected, their love might survive a good while longer.

Love. She was in love. How funny to have found it with a bat wielding zombie killer as the town they were in went down in flames. Despite the state of things, Rey realised she had discovered true joy. Bring on the zombies- they’d deal with the undead together.

**Author's Note:**

> I watched _The Dead Don’t Die_ when it was first released and couldn’t get that odd little story of zombies, police officers, road trippers and a warrior alien mortician out of my head. The movie’s plot was beyond strange and I had a glimmer of an idea for a fanfic. And then last month I watched _The Man Who Killed Don Quixote_ starring Adam Driver in all his goofy and glorious splendour, and the glimmer became full blown need. Sometimes I write because a story refuses to leave my brain… and zombies like brains. One of the funniest things from the movie was a Star Wars reference that’s made it into this fic- see if you can spot it. 
> 
> Zombies received a cult following after the release of George Romero’s _Night of the Living Dead_ (briefly referenced in the movie and therefore in this fic) and are often used as a metaphor for humanity’s deeper fears- racism, communism, mass contagion or, in this case, climate change.
> 
> The chapter headings in this fic come from Sturgill Simpson’s theme song for the movie, also titled 'The Dead Don’t Die'. The title comes from Ryan Mecum’s equally odd and enjoyable novel _Zombie Haiku: Good Poetry For Your… Brains:_
> 
> “Blood is really warm  
> It’s like drinking hot chocolate  
> But with more screaming.” 
> 
> I hope you enjoy. Comments are very welcome. Xoxo


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